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THE WIFE OF MAROBIUS 



THE 



WIFE OF MAROBIUS 



A PLAY 



BY 

MAX EHRMANN 




NEW YORK 

MITCHELL KENNERLEY 

MCMXI 



Copyright igii by 
Mitchell Kennerley 



Press of 7. J. Little ^ Ives Company 

East Twenty-fourth Street 

New York 



OLD 25982 



THE WIFE OF MAROBIUS 



PERSONS 

Marobius, a Roman general. 
Clodia, his wife. 
Lydia, an old nurse. 

TIME: s8 B. C. 



The Wife of Marobius 

PLACE: An antechainher to Clodia's hed- 
room in the house of Marobius at Rome. 
Around the walls hang seven lamps of gold. 
The ceiling is traversed by beams bound with 
bands of silver and gold. On each side of the 
roo7n stands a marble pillar from which project 
two candlesticks of seven arches. At back there 
is a window screened by bronze shutters ^ be- 
neath and at the sides of which the wall is 
embedded with precious stones, pearl, jade and 
onyx. Against part of the back wall hangs 
gold woven tapestry. A citrus table stands in 
the centre of the room; and a couch at right. 
There is a door at left and a door at right. On 
the wall near the door at left is attached a clus- 
ter of Greek and Barbarian weapons, daggers, 
spears, and swords. From the ceiling hangs a 
small bell of hammered gold. The furnishings 
glitter in the light of the two burning lamps. 
Clodia is walking across the room. It is past 
midnight. 

7 



The Wife of Marobius 



[Enter Lydia] 

Lydia 

I thought that you would be asleep ere now. 



Clodia 
I tried to sleep, but tossed and tossed again. 

Lydia 

You should lie still and sleep will come. The 

night 
Is still, the house is still, but we yet stir. 

Clodia 

To me the night is full of ugly noise ; 
You say the night is still? 

Lydia 

No sound at all, 
Save now and then a wind that moves the leaves. 

Clodia 

Then must the noise be in myself. 

8 



The Wife of Marobius 



Lydia 

Perhaps. 

Clodia 
I am all tumult like a waterfall. 

Lydia 

You should lie still and sleep will come ere 

long, 
Sleep is so strange a thing. 

Clodia 

Is It so strange? 
I think the moving night Is far more strange. 
To you It has no motion and no sound; 
To me It Is a noisy, crowded street ; 
A city full of misty, moving shapes. 

Lydia 

These things are In yourself. Be still awhile. 
And you shall see how, like a loving nurse. 
Sweet sleep will soothe and kiss your tired eyes. 

9 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

[Taking a seat near the table] 

Last night I had a dream that was like death, 

So terrible was the fear it wrought in me. 

I thought I lay in there beside my husband 

[Pointing to the right'] 

And slept, as was my joy in other times. 

A hand plucked at my gown and wakened me ; 

And with my eyes wide open I beheld 

My husband lying headless by my side. 

I thought I tried to move and cry aloud, 

Yet could do naught but look upon his corpse. 

Then it seemed we lay out in the garden, 

Still side by side, his headless form and I; 

And plainly could I hear his moaning voice 

Come from the grassy earth! 

Lydia 

What said the voice? 

Clodia 
I could not tell, so inarticulate 
The sound, yet anger and a deep despair 
Commingled strangely. 

ID 



The Wife of Marobius 



Lydia 
Were you mucK afraid? 

Clodia 

A hundred times I died within the dream, 
It was as if his head rebelled its fate, 
And sought to issue from the grassy earth. 
I thought his pallid lips arose at last 
And mingled with the leaves of tender green, 
Which spat forth yellow flame and hissed the 

while. 
Then came that rolling sea of stormy dream 
That drowns all sense of earthly form and 

color, 
A moving world of nothing seen or heard. 
Yet moving, swiftly rushing on and on. 
When I awoke I should have cried aloud, 
^But terror held my throat and quenched the 
sound. 

Lydia 

Dear mistress, drive away these darkened 

thoughts ; 
For all is still save now and then the wind 

II 



The Wife of Marobius 



That moves the leaves. The night was made 

for sleep. 
It IS the cooling balm of fevered minds. 

Clodia 

What meaning can there be in such a dream? 

Is it a message from the kinder gods 

To give me warning of approaching ill? 

Or does some dark corruption in myself 

Make sick with fear this helmsman of my 

sleep ? 

LydiA 

No meaning can there be in hapless dreams. 

Clodia 
Said you a wind was whining In the trees? 

Lydia 
A gentle wind. I cannot hear It now. 

Clodia 

There ! It is whining in the cypress trees. 
[Goes to the window and looks out] 

12 



The Wife of Marobius 



Lydia 
Come, come, dear mistress, think such thoughts 

no more. 
Your eyes are bright as noon, but should be 

dull. 
That sleep might close them up. 

Clodia 

[Listening at the window'] Hear, Lydia I 

It tells some sadden story fraught with pain. 
The night awakes the slumbering things of 

day. 
Perhaps it is the wind now on his round 
To wake the trees that babble through their 

leaves. 
This room is filled with living things by night; 
They whisper in my ears, and some cry ^'hist!" 
[Pointing to the hell suspended from the ceil- 
ing'] 
And, Lydia, that piece of hammered gold 
Has more unending terror in its tongue 
Than all the torments of the wicked dead. 
How often it has called me forth to shame ! 

13 



The Wife of Marobius 



I think each moment It will cry aloud 
And send me forth to him, for *tis the night 
That I am wont to barter for my bread. 
I am a harlot In my husband's house; 
My body does he love but not my soul. 
The food I eat Is paid for by my flesh. 
I cannot live through It another night; 
My tongue will cry aloud against my will. 

Lydia 
I would it pleased you more. 



\_Startled^ 



Clodia 



What sound Is that? 



I hear no sound. 



Lydia 



Clodia 



I heard It plainly — there! 



Lydia 

Perhaps some slave Is walking In his room. 

14 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

Perhaps some slave is walking in his sleep. 
No, it is there, up in the gloomy trees — 
A flutter as of wings. 

Lydia 

I cannot hear. 
Perhaps a bird has fallen from his nest. 

Clodia 

There are some birds that fly abroad at night 
And sing a waihng song as from the tomb. 

Lydia 

[Softly stroking her hair~\ 

Come, mistress, banish all these darkened 

thoughts. 
And sleep, else dawn will find you pale and 

weak. 

Clodia 

I would stay here and have you talk to me. 
Again I hear the noise. O that my mind 
Did cease to note each passing breath of sound! 

15 



The Wife of Marobius 



Lydia 
It is some slave that walks within the house. 

Clodia 

Go to his room and see if he's within. 
If he but sleeps! 

Lydia 
[Surprised] 

Go to the master's room? 

Clodia 

Yes, I would know if he is fast asleep. 
Then shall I yield myself unto the night; 
And you will lie by me, as long ago. 

Lydia 
But should he wake and find me spying him? 

Clodia 
Invent some answer should he question you. 

Lydia 

I cannot think what answer I should make. 

i6 



The Wife of Maroeius 



Clodia 
Say that you came to fill the lamps with oil. 

Lydia 
At such an hour as this? 

Clodia 

Or that you thought 
You heard him speak, and came to learn his 
want. 

Lydia 

Attendants lie almost beside his bed. 

Clodia 
Or say you lost your way. The night is dark. 

Lydia 

No answer will I form, but go at once, 
That you may sleep and be yourself again. 

Clodia 

See, I would sacrifice you, Lydia — 
Good Lydia, so much am I distraught. 

17 



The Wife of Marobius 



Lydl\ 

And should he wake and punish me with words, 
Or think I am some thief come In the night, 
I shall not fear, so kind is he to me. 
[Lydia goes of at left. Clodia lights more 
lamps. There is a noise as if something 
had fallen. Presently Lydia reenters^ 

Clodla 

What sound was that? He woke and looked 
on you? 

L\T)IA 

While groping in the dark I fell. 

Clodl\ 

Speak, speak! 
You saw him in his bed? 

Lydla 

I saw him not. 

Clodl\ 

You looked inside his room? 

i8 



The \Yife of Marobius 



Lydl\ 

He was not there. 
Clodl\ 

Then wanders he still somewhere In the night, 
Or lounges drinking at some festive board. 
Whose feast is It to-night? 

L\T)IA 

I know of none. 
And yet I heard one whispered of to-day. 

Clodia 
Is there an undertone of whispers here? 

Lydl\ 

Yes, but rebellion makes no sound In It. 
Why all the lamps aglow In dead of night? 

Clodl\ 

That there may be no visions In the room. 
No uninvited guests to torment me. 

19 



The Wife of Marobius 



Lydia 

Come, come, must I grow stern with you and 

chide, 
As when a child you lay within my arms ? 
Long has the hour of early sleep passed by, 
But we yet stir with all our lamps aglow. 

Clodia 

I cannot rest till he's within and sleeps. 
[Walks nervously up and down the room] 

Lydia 

And discontent looks ill upon your face, 

Like some rank weed spread o'er a bed of 

roses. 
O Clodia, come, be my child again; 
And hear my words with faith, as long ago. 
The stories that I told you on my knee 
Have all come true, as by some magic hand. 
This is a house of glitter and of dreams. 
And you the mistress of this shining land. 
Where noonday may be kindled in the night, 
So bright the lustre of these lamps of gold. 

20 



The Wife of Marobius 



And you are decked as if some youthful god 
Had wed you In the morning of the world. 
Yet growing discontent eats at your breast, 
And fear and loathing mingle in your soul. 
See, I am stern with you. 

Clodia 
[Kissing her on the forehead^ And I forgive. 

Lydia 

I now remember when he came for you. 
And how I thought that you must part from 

me, 
When lo I he packed me up and laughing said 
Our nests unharmed should still be side by 

side. 
So did he wed us both. 

Clodia 
Hark! Heard you that — 



Out there? 



Lydia 
I nothing heard but our own words. 

21 



Tkh Wife of Marobius 



Clodl\ 

The o'press trees are cr^'Ing out again. 

[Goc^s to the ZL'itiJo'Zv and looks out] 

How strange the dark! Come here and see 

how strange. 
\Yhat flecks of light are these that dot the 

sky? 

LyDL\ 



It is the moonlight breaking through the clouds. 

Clodl\ 
T would the dawn were here and I had slept. 

Lydia 

[Pointing to the ceiling] 

He'll sound the bell if he desires you. 

Are you not young and lithe and full of life? 

'Tis time you bloomed, it is your early sum- 
mer. 

Xow look on me, how old and brown I am. 

But once I, too, was young and loved and 
lived. 

And when the moon shines on a summer night, 

22 



The Wife of Marobius 



I wish I could turn back the wheel of time, 
Awake the withered leaves of summers gone, 
And listen to sweet whispers In my ear. 
Sometimes I dream that I am young again, 
And wake and weep to find that I but dreamed. 
O, I would heed the sound that sent me forth 
To him my eager husband 



Clodia 

[J noise is heard] 

Was that an outer door? 



Pray forbear. 



L\T)L\ 

I think it was. 
l^Listening at door at right] 
The master is within his house at last. 

Clodia 
[Nenously] 
If, Lydia, by chance the bell should faU, 

Or were Its tonsrue drawn out, It could not 

sound 
See how its coat of gold needs burnishing, 

23 



The Wife of Marobius 



The dust of many days lies on its back. 
Can you not Improvise an accident, 
And dash It down, and say 'twas yesterday, 
And you forgot to make report of it? 

Lydia 

Good mistress, yield yourself no more to fear; 
The moments pass and there Is silence still; 
And soon we two shall softly fall asleep. 
Did you not say that I should lie by you, 
As long ago? 

Clodia 

Yes, I have need of you, 
To drive away the shapes that pluck at me. 

Lydia 

Just so It was when you were but a child 

And had o'er-played, all fitful was your sleep; 

Or when a little glutton you had been, 

And stole the sweets that were forbidden you. 

O would that we could live It all again ! 

24 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

'Tis echoed In my heart a thousand times. 
I would give all the woman that I am 
To see once more the clouds as they appeared 
In that old time, and kiss the perfumed air 
That tossed my tresses In a hundred ways. 
But now I walk In fear as one condemned. 
O nurse — how strange that old name sounds ! 

Lydia 

To me 

There Is no sweeter name. 

Clodia 

[Seating herself again'] In that old garden 

Of painted dreams my childhood left Its soul. 
Sometimes the child I was comes back to me, 
And I stretch forth my arms to hold It fast. 
For one brief moment all the world Is changed: 
The lure of twilight shadows In the evening. 
The pallid gold of summer moons long past, 
Again enchant me with forgotten peace. 

25 



The Wife of Marobius 



Lydia 

Not so long past, for you are still a child, 
And I shall wake you with my hand to-night. 
If some unwholesome dream distress your 
sleep. 

Clodia 

O that your kindly touch might waken me 
From dreams that look into my open eyes ! 

Lydia 
Good mistress, come, let us to bed. 

Clodia 

Not yet. 

Some moments still must pass ere we lie down. 

Lydia 

Your voice is charged again with saddened 

tones, 
A moment since it had a sweeter sound. 

Clodia 

You led me o'er the paths of yesterday, 

26 



The Wife of Marobius 



And memory joined my childish hand to yours; 
I saw the sky rest on a sleeping hill, 
And heard the murmur of the meadow winds, 
It was my dawn, my springtime morning hour. 

Lydia 

Ah! now your voice Is sweet again. Good 

child 

[The bell of hanunered gold upon the celling 

faintly rings, Lydia goes tonard the 

right] 

Clodia 
[/Irises, startled] 

Wait! You need not hasten. 

Lydia 

I hasten not, 

[Lydia enters the room on the right, and re- 
turns at once with a sleeping-go%i'n~\ 

Lydia 

[Unbuttoning the gozcn] 

How chill these pearls must feel against the 
flesh! 

27 



The Wipe of ^LAROBI^s 



More pale are they than iiiies ci the r.rld, 
More pale than is this dress oi woven a:r — 
This dress of lawful pleasure a::d of dream. 
'Tis ready now 

Clodia 
I will not put it on. 

Lydl\ 

Inmiodest would it be :: go without. 

See how the gold threads sparkle in the light, 
And hear the whisper of the shining folds. 
These gold threads dazzle me. 

Clodia 

They sicken me. 

[Holding up the ^own\ 

It waits for you to give it form and life. 

Clodl\ 
It is a shroud that brings decay and death. 

2S 



The Wife of Marobius 



Lydia 

Nay, say not so. Upon your face a rose 
Breaks into bloom and paints your tender 
cheek. 

Clodl\ 

It is the rose of shame and not desire* 

Lydl\ 
The time goes quickly by. He wa.cs for you. 

Clodl\ 
I will not put it on. 

Lydl\ 

In all the world 
It is the honored custom and the law. 

Cjxxha 
[Boldly^ 

Too often have I sacrinced myself 

Upon the altar of the hated law, 

Which bids me eat the fruit that sickens me, 

Denies me drink when I am much athirst. 

But now I think there is another law, 

29 



The Wife of Marobius 



Wrought not by men, but by immortal gods, 
Which bids me be myself and walk erect. 

Lydia 

You are a ruler in this house of gold, 
Set up by him upon this mighty throne. 

Clodia 
I am a slave within this house of flesh. 

Lydia 

My child, you vex yourself with sophistry. 
The time goes quickly by. He waits for you. 

Clodia 
Forbear to urge me, for my flesh is weak. 

Lydia 
He is so good. How can you tarry here? 

Clodia 
[Anxiously] 

Go you to him, and say that I am ill, 

30 



The Wife of Marobius 



That I have tossed these hours in sleeplessness. 
Do not delay, I bid you go at once. 
Good Lydia, you do not understand. 
I am now being born again, and come 
i\f resh into this breathing world. Go, go ! 

Lydia 
I cannot say In truth that you are ill. 

Clodia 
Then say to him I do not come to-night. 

Lydia 
That shall I say, and then come back to you — 
Bluntly as you have said it now. 



Clodia 

L\T)IA' 
Then you will go to him? 



Wait, wait! 



Clodia 
\^Approaching the door at right] 

No, no, listen! 
31 



The Wife of Marobius 



Some one is passing to and fro outside, 
Some one is passing near our door. Or do 
I hear the wind up in the cypress trees? 
My mind is full of motion and of sound. 

Lydia 
'TIs true, some one is coming toward our door. 

Clodia 
But now I think the sound grows fainter. 

Lydia 

Yes. 

Clodia 

I loathe this prowling in the dead of night. 
This watching, waiting to collect a debt. 

Lydia 

I shall at once to him and give your message. 

{^She lays the sleeping-gown over a chair, and 
goes out at left. Some moments elapse 
while Clodia quenches the lights until only 
two are burning. As she goes toward the 

32 



The Wife of Marobius 



remaining lamps, the left door opens softly 
and Marobius enters'\ 

Clodia 
OhI 

Marobius 



[Standing by the door] 
Do not startle. It is I. 

Clodia 

I — you 

You frightened me. I thought 'twas Lydla. 
You saw her? 

Marobius 
Yes, and sent her off to bed. 

Clodia 
Delivered she the message that I sent? 

Marobius 

Sne stammered that you would not come to me. 
But see, I come to you ! 

33 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

Whose steps were those 
I heard a moment since outside the door? 
So stealthily they came and went again, 
I thought at first it was the wind at play. 

Marobius 

I sent to learn if you were still awake. 
This room was found aglow with many lights. 
Since you come not to me, I come to you, 
To feel your light, woman of all women. 

Clodia 
[Aside] 

O had I let in darkness ere he camel 

Marobius 

[Still standing by the door] 

Spoke you to me? I understood you not. 

Am I unwelcome in your room of gold? 

Clodia 

Who shall say "no" to you in your own house? 
Here do I live by sufferance of you. 

34 



The Wife of Marobius 



My life is but a moving ornament 

Amid these pearl and gold embedded walls. 

Marobius 

You are too solemn. Pray convert your mood 
To cheerfulness. We two are here alone, 
No tedious guests to keep us from ourselves. 
[Goes toward her] 

I would infold you now — my wife, my wife I 
And feel you close — O, very close to me I 
Perpetual dew keeps moist your tender lips, 
And were I dead your kiss would waken me. 

Clodia 
[Moving away] 

Wait, wait ! not sudden thus, 'tis long ere dawn. 

Since early night I seem to hear a sound 

Up In the cypress trees — not like the wind; 

Yet Lydia supposed It was the wind. 

Think you the wind can speak like human lips? 

Marobius 

Have you not slept? 

35 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

The whispers In the night 
Have kept me wake with their unending noise. 

Marobius 

As you so quickly move about, I think 

I have not seen a deer more lithe than you, 

So agile are your limbs, so swift your eyes. 

Your hair is full of sleep and full of dream; 

It Is a sunlit fall of golden water, 

A rushing torrent made of liquid gold; 

'TIs softer than a midnight summer wind 

Upon the hungry lips of eager love; 

And when at first I twined it round my face, 

I felt the passion of the gods. 

[Goes toward her} 

Clodia 
[Moving away] 

Wait, wait. 

Marobius 

You are a flower that blooms in quiet night, 
So fragrant that It thrills me through. 

36 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

Wait, wait. 

Listen ! It Is the whispers In the trees, 

It Is the moaning In the trees out there. 

Marobius 
'TIs but the wind that tosses up the leaves. 

Clodia 
I hear a sound more human-like than wind. 

Marobius 

\_Goes to the window and looks out'\ 
Nothing but moving air disturbs the night. 
A little bird are you to frighten thus, 
A little bird with burnished marble breast. 
Come to me, sing your breath Into my face; 
Your breath like sweetened poison thrills me 

through. 
[^Goes toward her] 

Clodia 
[Moving away] 

Wait, wait; I still am trembling In my limbs. 
First tell me of the feast to-night. 

37 



The Wife of Marobius 



Marobius 

The feast! 

As stupid as a race won ere 'tis run. 

I would forget It and would feast with you. 

Clodia 
Pray tell me what was said. 

Marobius 

[Sits down] But stupid things : 

One told, with great gusto, an ancient tale 
I heard when yet a boy; another, old 
With wine and too much food, proclaimed his 

Ills, 
A swelling every morning In his legs. 
A youth talked much of love and much more 

drank. 
[Begins to arise] 

Clodia 
No, no ; there is much more to tell. 

Marobius 

Another, 

38 



The Wife of Marobius 



Our fat, complaining guest of yesternight, 
Explained In great detail the foods he ate. 
The foods he could not eat, In short, the virtues 
Of his stomach and the perils of foods. 
One ate too much of quince, grew deathly 

ill, 

Was taken home, and laughed at as he went. 
All fools they were, more foolish made by 
wine. 

Clodia 
Was there no noble thought expressed? 

Marobius 

Not one. 

Yet I am little judge of noble thoughts. 

My eyes are better trained than Is my mind; 

And when they look on you they see naught 

else. 
The world Is strangely dimmed as If 'twould 

rain. 
Why are your lips so red, your flesh so white — 
Whiter than lilies grown beneath a glass — 
Whiter than marble brought from Africa? 

39 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

Always of my body, but not my soul 

You speak. 

Marobius 

It is a sapling laurel tree, 
And I a stormy wind that bends It down. 
Your saffron hair Is like Assyrian silk, 
Like sheets of water that the winds distress. 
[Rises and goes tozvard her] 

Clodia 
[Avoid'Dig him] 

Walt, wait; I beg more time. 

Marobius 
[Stops] More time? 

Clodia 

More time — 

To tell a fearful dream of yesternight. 

I am your slave and ask more time. 

Marobius 

My slave ? 
Your lips alone dare call you slave of mine. 

[Sits dow7i] 

40 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 
What meaning can there be in fearful dreams? 

Marobius 

Saw you some ugly thing that frightened you — 
That made you hide your head beneath your 

wing? 
Had I been near I should have wakened you, 
And held you in my arms. 

Clodia 

You were by me. 

Marobius 
I? Yesternight? 

Clodia 
I saw you in my dream. 

Marobius 

[^Golng toward her] 

No ugly thing shall frighten you to-night, 
For I, close by, will touch you with my hand. 
And kiss the velvet softness of your throat. 

41 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 
[Moving away] 
Wait, wait ! 

Marobius 

[Following her step by step] 

Your hair shall I twine round my face, 
And breathe the perfume of your breath. 

Clodia 

No, no I 

Marobius 

And crush you in my arms against myself, 
Till both of us shall live as one. 

Clodia 

No, no ! 

Marobius 

Is It pursuit that thrills your heart with joy? 
And must I catch you ere I feel your warmth? 
If you were hid within a darkened house, 
The perfume of your flesh would cry to me. 
Or were you lost, so great is my desire 
That I could find you in a sunless world. 

42 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 
O, do not touch me lest I cry aloud! 

Marobius 
[Stops] 

You gods, I waken I You repulse me? 

Clodia 

Yes. 
Marobius 

I am a fire from which you flee in dread? 

Clodia 
I fear the flamuig love you bear my body. 

Marobius 

Woman of all women, you repulse me! 
Within I stagger as a wounded deer. 
And yet I think half-hearted that some trick 
Your words have played — some trick of sound, 

perchance, ^ 
[Goes toward her] 

That turns their meaning round. You steal 
away! 

43 



The Wife of Marobius 



[Stops] 

I am put off, condemned, pronounced unclean. 

Behold my hands ! My touch Is venomous. 

I am a leper found beneath your bed. 

My breath more poison than the hemlock's 

juice; 
I am a deadly drink of stagnant water, 
The green covering of a pool of ooze. 
Where my lips press a yellow scar Is left, 
As If the juice of upas trickled there. 
My Image sparkles In your frightened eyes, 
A loathed thing with foul and festered form. 
Who lies abed with me shall rot alive. 

Clodia 

No, no! Your form Is noble like a god's, 
And pure as limpid water In the sun. 

Marobius 

I am a slimy asp found In your bed. 

You seek to soothe the wound you have just 

made, 
And mock me with your trembling lips. 

44 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

No, no; 

I only fear the love you bear my body. 

Marobius 
My touch would sting you as a viper's tongue. 

Clodia 

It would but chill me through. O, sadden not ! 
I am an evil wind— 

Marobius 

[Sinking into a chair] 

I am not sad; 
Subdued am I, bowed down, and thoughtful 

grown. 
Barbarian spears have cruelly rent my flesh, 
But this sword of yours has a keener edge. 
My life arises through the mist of years, 
And perished memories look on me again. 
A world of fancies was my boyish world, 
And love was sky and earth and wind and 

wood. 

45 



/ 



The Wife of Marobius 



Love stirred ambition In my youthful breast, 
And sent me forth to conquest and to gain. 
A thousand youthful women have I seen 
Who with their eyes bade me to lead them 

forth. 
Barbarian maidens In Albanian lands, 
With dreadful fear consumed, fell on my 

breast, 
Maidens fresh and fair as springtime morn- 
ing, 
Fragrant, yielding as a violet blooming, 
Iberian women-slaves of tender age. 
With amber hair, Judean maidens crowned 
With waving locks of midnight ebony. 
And ruby-laden mistresses of kings. 
Were as a bed of roses to be plucked. 
Yet I kept myself for you. 

Clodia 

Why for me? 

Marobius 

Because the gods have formed you like a god- 
dess; 

46 



The Wife of Marobius 



Your flesh is whiter than the polished marble 
The Greeks have made to glow with life. I 

knew 
You In my dreams before I saw your face. 

Clodia 

Always your eyes are fixed upon my body. 
I fear the flaming love you bear my body. 

Marobius 

A thousand dreadful battles have I fought, 
And lain In swamps by the Hyrcanlan Sea, 
By deadly scorpions visited at night. 
Thus gathered I the glitter of this house. 
These jewel-embellished lamps of beaten gold 
Made bright the enamored evenings of a king. 
Yon seven-fingered candlesticks of bronze 
Burned in a temple at Jerusalem. 
Sweet dreams of love upbore me on the night 
I swam a moaning sea of poisoned spears 
To bring this tapestry that's stiff with gold. 
The grass of spring Is not more tender green 
Than Is the jade embedded In these walls; 

47 



The Wife of Marobius 



Nor autumn leaves more yellow than the topaz. 
See how the envious pearls, that sparkle not, 
Make solemn faces at the shining stones. 
That row of sapphire, soft as summer skies, 
Lay on a youthful princess' snow-white breast. 
All this I brought for you. 

ClodiA 

To buy my body. 

The food and drink your gourmand passion 

craves. 

Marobius 

To please the heart of her I saw in dreams, 
Who now repulses me. That citrus table, 
Your snow-white fingers now are trembling on. 
Came o'er the seas from Africa for you. 
[She lifts her hand from the table] 
Yon daggers, swords, and spears I bought with 

blood; 
Each one I wrenched from out the hand of 

death. 
I gave them you. They were my choicest gift. 
The favorite maiden of the King of Pontus 
Has worn that diamond that adorns your hair. 

48 



The Wife of Marobius 



'Tis like a dewdrop on a saffron rose. 

[She takes the diamond from her hair and 

lays it on the table] 
That slender thread of scarlet pearls you wear 
Has felt the warmth of fair Statonlce's throat. 
In all of Rome there Is none like to it. 
Once In a hundred years, I have been told, 
The miser sea gives up a scarlet pearl. 
[She takes the pearls from her throat] 
Have I denied you aught? 

Clodia 

No, by the gods, 
That have you not. With gold and bronze 
and pearl, 

Well have you paid me o'er and o'er again 

For every inch of my defenceless self. 

By all the written laws I am your wife; 

And being such, I am a loathed thing. 

By signs and sounds of bells you summon me. 

Submission takes the place of love's reward. 

It is a world of flesh in which we live. 

My yearning soul you have not sought to buy. 

I would have given It for love alone. 

49 



The Wife of Marobius 



Marobius 
Do I not love you ? 

Clodia 

You love my body. 
You love the pleasure that I give to you. 
When you are calm you have no need of 

me; 
And day and night I meditate alone. 
Then in a frenzied heat you come to me; 
And I but live to feed your maddened fire. 
I am a sea your storm-winds beat upon. 
I am the withered leaves your flames consume. 
Your love is fire and straining wind and 

storm ; 
Like wine, it wakes to lust your dead desire. 
You dazzled me with gold and shining stones, 
And led me to this house of lawful shame. 
How am I better than the common women 
Who sell themselves for shelter and for food? 

Marobius 

Are you not my wife? 

50 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

You wed my body, 
But not my soul. What law can bind two 

souls? 
What ceremony pompous made with gold 
Can lead the heart to go where it will not? 
My timid flesh has tarried in this house; 
But that in me which lived for love Is dead. 
You, master, maker of my little world. 
You sought it not. 

Marobius 
'Tis late to note this now. 

Clodia 

What did I know of life upon that morn 
You led me from my father's house, a child. 
My nurse, the sky, my poets had taught me 

dreams. 
I thought you loved my soul. 

Marobius 

I loved your soul? 
51 



The Wife of Marobius 



Can burning lips be cooled upon the soul? 
What is this love of things one cannot touch ? 

Clodia 

O would that I could form it into words 
And give It understanding In your mind! 
'TIs soft and low and sweet and clamors not. 
'TIs like the light of stars In quiet night, 
A hush and stillness of the world within. 
'Tis bountiful as is the harvest time 
With mellow fruit, and yields ere it Is asked. 
It is like gentle springtime when the earth 
Of her own self, unforced, yields up the grass. 

Marobius 

Your soul then would I wed. Teach me this 
love. 

Clodia 
'Tis learned not In the twinkling of an eye. 

Marobius 

I will be patient, teach me step by step. 

52 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 
O, I have meditated in the night 
When silence almost murmured like a sound I 
And gazing long into the lighted sky, 
I thought the stars came slowly down to me; 
Then upward through the soft and darkened 

world 
I went with them unto the ends of space. 
With you this flight of soul had been divine. 

Marobius 
I will go through the universe with you. 

Clodia 

And often In the night I would you came 
With heavy heart that I might comfort you. 
I would you told me of some secret grief 
And found surcease of sorrow on my breast. 
In evening's quiet hour, beneath the trees, 
With eagerness I'd listen to your plans; 
And we should wander in one world of thought. 
When lonely night comes on I'd sleep by you. 
So near that I might touch you with my hand. 

53 



The Wife of Marobius 



And children would I bear that have your 

image ; 
And you would ache as I In pain brought forth 
Sweet roses In the garden of my breast — 
Appealing lips that cry and press for drink, 
Whose faintest smile makes sweet a bitter 

world. 
My unborn children have I seen at night, 
And heard their feeble cries to be brought 

forth, 
That they might know the glory that It is 
To live and see the world with human eyes. 
At night they whisper In the cypress trees, 
And cry aloud to me to be their mother. 
But we have murdered them — my little chil- 
dren I 

Marobius 

You sadden me with grief till now unknown. 

Clodia 
I would not pain you, but my heart Is hurt. 

Marobius 
You should have been a mother. 

54 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

You would not 

Forgo your pleasure for a season brief. 

Marobius 
There still is time. 

Clodia 
Not till you love my soul. 

Marobius 
,Your words are piercing as a slender sword. 

Clodia 

At first I feared you. Now no more I fear, 
For sorrow sits upon your heavy soul 
And darkens all the chambers of your house. 
It will draw me to you again. 

Marobius 

You will 
Not flee from me if I come to you now? 
[Takes her in his arms] 

SS 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

No, kiss me not until I come to you: 

And then we two shall wander through the 

world; 
And you will know the bliss of loving me, 
When I shall breathless run Into your arms. 

Marobius 

I would that now your lips were touching 

mine. 
Mine are a burning field and yours a rain, 
A famished beggar gazing on a feast. 

Clodia 
No, no; not yet; my heart still beats In pain. 

Marobius 
O, loath am I so soon to let you go I 

Clodia 

Love but my soul, the part of me not flesh, 
And you shall see my body run to you. 

56 



The Wife of Marobius 



Marobius 

The dawn of this new love breaks through my 
night. 

Clodia 

Be patient, not so quickly Is It taught; 
Yet am I filled with joy that you will learn, 
That you will sit with me In night's still hours, 
And live with me your life of thought, as 

mine 
Henceforth I live with you. What sound Is 

this 
That like sweet music trembles through the 
night ? 
[Faint music is heard] 

Marobius 

I bade my servants softly touch the lute 
When I had been with you a measured time, 
That I, returning, might be cheered by sound. 

Clodia 

[Drawing slowly away from him] 

57 



The Wife of Marobius 



This is a new caprice your hunger craves. 
Yet sweet this whispered music in the night; 
It brings some cheer into my heart. 

Marobius 

[Seeing her night robe lying on the chair] 

Your robe ! 
O, put it on before I go, that I 
May look on you in all your loveliness! 
For one brief moment fill my eyes with light, 
For I am stricken blind and see you not. 
You are the sun of all my darkened world. 
I have been patient and will learn this love 
You told me of. See how I plead with 

you, 
Like some vile beggar at your outer door — 
I who but yesterday was master here; 
I thirst for you; I hunger for your beauty. 
My eyes alone will feel you with their sight. 
I have known sabre wounds that were a touch 
Beside the mortal hurt of all your words. 
O, put it on that I forget my wounds ! 
[Takes lip the gown] 

58 



The Wife op^ Marobius 



Clodia 

I bring you only grief. Your plaintive words 
Are heavy with their sorrow. 

Marobius 

Put it on, 

And be the goddess of my heart's own world. 

Clodia 
I am no goddess, but am still your wife. 

Marobius 
Put it on, put it on, and bring me cheer! 

Clodia 
O, ask me not again, else will I yield! 

Marobius 

[Placing the gown on her arm] 
And let me worship you. 

Clodia 

I would be loved. 
59 



The Wife of Marobius 



Marobius 

It IS the breaking dawn of love's new day. 
Your wondrous beauty mirrored on my eyes, 
I'll wander off to sleep and dream of you. 

Clodia 
Will It cheer you to look on me? 

Marobius 

Yes, yes! 

Clodia 

And as the days come on shall we two learn 
The bliss of our new love? 

Marobius 

My teacher, you. 

Clodia 
And will you sit by me at eventide? 

Marobius 

And in the morning twilight kiss your lips, 
Subdued by love that first is passionless. 

60 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

And sometimes in the watches of the night, 
We two shall meditate upon the gods, 
And think how beautiful it is to live. 

Marobius 
(Yes, yesl 

Clodia 
And will you gladly climb with me 
The peaceful mountains made of lofty thoughts 
That lie serenely in the soul? 

Marobius 

That too. 

Clodia 

Then will I come that you may look on me. 
[She goes of at right, closing the door behind 

her, Marobius relights several of the 

lamps. Lydia enters at leftl 



Master, master! 



Lydia 

Marobius 

I sent you off to bed. 
6i 



The Wife of Marobius 



Lydia 
O master, do not look on her to-night! 

Marobius 
Have you been listening? Answer me. 

Lydia 

I— I * 

Marobius 
Have you been listening? 

Lydia 

Yes — behind the door. 
O master, do not look on her to-night! 

Marobius 

What strange anxiety distresses you? 
Am I to bow before a slave's command? 

Lydia 

O, do not look on her! 

62 



The Wife of Marobius 



Marobius 

Your trembling lips 
Give forth an evil sound. Begone ! 

Lydia 

I go. 

Marobius 

And bid the music softly start again, 

Not long, nor loud — some piece of passionate 

love ; 
For I would feel delight through every sense. 
You tarry. Shall I cast you out? 

Lydia 

No, no. 

[Lydia goes of at left. Marobius lights more 
lamps. Faint music is heard for a short 
time. The door at right is open a little'] 

Clodia 
[Within'] 

O ! I will come If you quench all the lights. 

63 



The Wife of Marobius 



Marobius 

[Quenching some of the lights'] 

How can I see If all the lights are quenched? 

Clodia 
One lamp gives light enough. 

Marobius 

One light but blinds. 

Clodia 
Then two or three. 

Marobius 

O come, I cannot wait! 

Clodia 
I have no pleasure In this show of me. 

Marobius 
O come, and be my dawn, and bring me cheer ! 

64 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 
You will not lay your hands upon me? 

Marobius 

No. 
But with my eyes I'll touch you everywhere. 

[Clodia enters clad in the sleeping-robe. She 

stands by the door with eyes cast down] 

Marobius 
You make the earth beautiful. 



Clodia 



Marobius 



I am glad. 



I think till now I never looked on you. 

What amorous god made you to glow with 

light, 
Encircled by this dress of woven air I 
You are a lamp set In a silken shade, 
A radiant star set in a shining vale. 

6s 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

None of these things am I save in your thought. 
If there is lustre, 'tis these precious stones 
And threads of gold; I only wear the dress. 
\_Lookhig tip, startled'] 
Your eyes are glaring like a fretted beast's. 

Marobius 

[Going toward her] 
My eyes could find you in a sea of mist. 
Around your body hovers perfumed air, 
As if the odorous bath had not yet dried. 

Clodia 
[Moving away] 

You said you would not lay your hands on me. 

Marobius 

A thousand fathoms of the deepest sea 
Are not as deep as are your liquid eyes. 

Clodia 
[PFeeping] 

No, no; I have done wrong to lure you thus! 

66 



The Wife of Marobius 



Marobius 

[Seizing her in his arms] 

And when you weep I yearn for you the more; 

Therefore, I make you weep to spur me on. 

Clodia 
[Stru^^lin^l 

I shall cry out! 

Marobius 

My fingers sting with joy. 
Your touch is cooling like a running stream. 
This brief embrace will do no hurt to you; 
It cools me who am burning like a flame. 

Clodia 
No, no — your promise — stand away from me ! 

Marobius 

You cannot put me off, I hold you fast. 
See how my lips come near to yours. 

Clodia 

No, no I 
67 



The Wife of Marobius 



Marobius 
They are athlrst to drink your beauty. 



Nol 



Clodia 
Marobius 

[Kissing her] 

I never loved you till this hour. 



Clodia 

Stand off I 

Marobius 

[Kissing her again] 

The more you struggle the more I love you. 

Clodia 
I shall shriek out I 

Marobius 

^Drawing her to right, toward her chamber 
door] 

I cannot let you go; 
For every drop of blood within my veins 
Cries out for you, and will not yield you up. 

68 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 
No, no, forbear! Your passion maddens you! 



I burn for you. 



Marobius 

Clodia 

You know not what you do ; 

Your fingers sink into my flesh! [Calls] Lydia! 

Your eyes dart flame. O stay, think ! Lydia ! 

[Smothering her voice with his lips, he draws 
her into her chamber. As she passes the 
door, endeavoring to stay herself, her hand 
touches the cluster of weapons hanging on 
the wall. She cleaves to one of these as he 
draws her through the do or J 

Marobius 

[Within, amid cries] 

Your beauty cools my burning lips. Be still! 

I'll drink you, crush you, feel your warmth on 

me. 
I cannot let you go. Be still, be still, 
Else will I tear your flesh and make you bleed. 

69 



The Wife of Marobius 



You are my wife; my wife shall be my wife! 

[There is a loud cry within, then silence, 
Clodia^ white and trembling, reenters, and 
Lydia enters from the opposite side} 

Lydia 

What noise? I thought I heard some one cry 

out. 
There's blood upon your wrist! 

Clodia 

[Whispering] I scratched myself. 

Speak not so loud lest you wake up the house. 

Lydia 
The master — where is he — asleep? 

Clodia 

. Asleep. 

Bring me my sable robe. 

Lydia 

At such an hour? 
'Tis not yet dawn. 

70 



The Wife of Marobius 



Clodia 

We two are going home. 
Do quickly what I bid. 

Lydia 

Ere he awakes? 

Clodia 

[Gazing fixedly at the door at left] 

He will awake. I see him coming. Go! 

Lydia 
I do not see him — where? 

Clodia 
[Frantically] 

My robe — go quickly! 

There — there, his eyes, his voice— you hear 
him? 

Lydia 

No. 

Clodia 

He murmurs — hear ! He murmurs in his sleep. 
His lips are moving — see I 

71 



The Wife of Marobius 



Lydia 

[Caressing her] I see no one. 

You dream again. Be still, else will he wake. 

He sleeps so soundly now. 

Clodia 

He soundly sleeps. 

My mind Is full of fancies. Fetch my robe I 

What noise was that out there — out there? 

Lydia 

The wind. 
Clodia 

It sounded like a noise from human lips. 
Hear — hear the voices; all the house is roused! 
I hear a rush of maddened slaves. 

Lydia 

Be calm, 
The house Is still. 

Clodia 

Run, Lydia, run, run! 
Make clear the passage, beat them back, go, go I 
My robe — run quickly — fetch my robe! 

72 



The Wife of Marobius 



Lydia 

[Hurries off at right^ 

I go. 

Clodia 

[Calling wildly after her] 

Bring slaves — bring litter-slaves to bear us 

hence .... 
[Sinks to the floor] 
[Marobius, bleeding, raises himself in the 

doorway at left. He walks falteringly to 

where Clodia lies, takes her up in his arms. 

and lays her gently on the couch] 



Curtain 



73 



k/L.V^ 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



DEC 9 191t 



